Fire management reports & data

Recent studies suggest that climate change has altered the flow and provision of water from western US rivers to downstream cities and natural communities, but fewer studies have examined hydrological influences related to a century of fire suppression. This study evaluated the effects of changing forest and temperature conditions on 20th century flow patterns in the Salt River in central Arizona. Seasonal and annual flows declined by 8-29% in the first half of the century which coincided with a 10-fold increase in ponderosa pine forest densities. Based on a scientific review, there is strong evidence that changes in forest structure contributed to these flow declines. In the 2nd half of the century, warmer temperatures led to earlier timing of peak spring flows of almost 2 weeks but had negligible direct effects on flow magnitudes. These results suggest that forest change had effects on flow well before anthropogenic warming and that large-scale restoration projects hold some promise of recovering seasonal flows.

With over two million acres of Arizona’s forests vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire, we must change how we manage forests to reduce this risk. Accelerating the pace and scale of forest restoration treatments to meet this challenge requires new ways of doing business. Today’s forest management requires a collaborative approach between the Forest Service, wood product industries, and organizations like The Nature Conservancy to modernize rules and regulations; test, develop, and use new technology to work smarter and faster at less cost; and forge innovative partnerships that provide the support needed for this transformation. The Nature Conservancy is developing new technology that help harvesters, the Forest Service, and stakeholders meet today’s forest restoration goals. Using satellite and 3D imagery, geographic information systems, and electronic tablets, our efforts show promise in creating efficient, less-costly methods to digitally “mark” trees, prepare sites for treatments, harvest trees, and monitor effects of treatments.

The Coronado National Forest’s FireScape program works to remove barriers to fire playing its natural role on the landscape. The FireScape team is nurturing multiple efforts around the Sky Islands—no two projects are alike, but those underway share an approach that includes multiple jurisdictions, investigations by University of Arizona scientists, public engagement, assessing treatment need at the whole-mountain scale, and creatively removing implementation barriers when funding is scarce. See also the Southwest Forest Assessment page.

This regional assessment examines the impacts of temperature change from 1951-2006 on natural resources in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. It documents that warming has already affected habitats, watersheds, and species in the Southwest, by influencing the timing of seasonal events or amplifying the impacts of natural disturbances such as wildfire and drought. The report concludes that to begin adapting to climate change, natural resource managers should reevaluate the effectiveness of current restoration tools, modify resource objectives, learn from climate-smart adaptive management and monitoring, and share information across boundaries.

Descriptions of the Historical Range of Variation or Variability (HRV) characterize the change over time and space in the condition of the Southwest’s major vegetation types and the ecological processes that shape those types. HRVs enable land managers and the public to understand the drivers of change in our region’s major vegetation types.

Synthesizes the scientific literature on historical fire return intervals associated with the major vegetation systems across Arizona and New Mexico. Included is a crosswalk table for use with the Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project’s land cover dataset and three ArcGIS layer (.lyr) files that enable the user to mimic the report graphics.

The Huachuca Area Fire Partners, an alliance of public and private groups in southeastern Arizona, came together to restore and manage fire activities over a 500,000-acre area that includes the Huachuca Mountains and surrounding grasslands. The Fire Management Plan provides a framework for landscape-level fire management — its goals include collectively implementing fire management projects that participants are unable to accomplish on their own and managing fire across jurisdictional boundaries.

Documents efforts by TNC and BLM to test a model that prescribed burns can be used to improve watershed conditions and aquatic habitat conditions. Study documents pre- and post-treatment results for the response of grasslands and for populations of the threatened Gila chub (Gila intermedia). Paper presented at USFS conference, May 11-15, 2004.

A GIS data set depicting the results of a two-year study to delineate grasslands and evaluate their ecological condition in Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Mexico. This study was completed with the assistance of resource professionals from U.S. and Mexico universities and public agencies.

This study reviews BLM’s fire management plans for Arizona, assessing the accuracy, standardization, and ecological relevance of current Phase I fire management areas. This second report documenting the results of TNC’s Arizona Grassland Assessment also makes recommendations for revisions to BLM’s fire management areas based on fire ecology and other considerations.

This report is the first of two studies completed by TNC and partners to delineate the spatial extent and ecological condition of grasslands in central and southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Mexico. This report covers the 30-million acre Apache Highlands Ecoregion.

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